Little Orchard Equine

13/08/2024

It's time to register for lessons beginning in September! Lessons begin Monday September 9.

Beginner group lessons ($60, 1 hour long)
Monday 4:30
Tuesday 4:30
Thursday 4:30

Intermediate group lessons ($60, 1 hour long)
Monday 5:30
Monday 6:30
Tuesday 5:30
Tuesday 6:30 (jump lesson. Must have own horse)
Wednesday 4:30
Wednesday 5:30
Thursday 5:30
Thursday 6:30

Private lessons ($75, 1 hour)
Fridays

I can also potentially come to your facility. In which case I will charge $75 + mileage.

Book now to secure your spot, as they fill fast!

13/08/2024

On Saturday Little Orchard Equine participated in the Coaldale candy parade. We had a great time! Thank you to awesome helpers, drivers, walkers and riders, and of course thank you to great horses!

That concludes this years parade season. We will be back next year!

Did you see us there?

02/08/2024

Little Orchard Equine got themselves some parade posters! :D

31/07/2024

29/07/2024

Breeding update! Usually only have 1 foal per year as I usually breed to keep them in my program. However we have 3 confirmed for 2025. I love the spanish sport horses, and am looking to breed my quality mares with quality sires for level-headed amateur friendly sport horses that should excel in every direction. Because I have so many for next year at least 1 will be for sale!

( Triple Blue Bars x Xihao AR) due March 10, 2025.
This is our beloved Calli. Her last foal was extremely personable and friendly and the easiest to train. We expect similar personality from this one, which will be an Azteca foal. This one should be either a bay or a grey!

(Sequoia x Xihao AR) due May 19, 2025.
This one will be an Iberian warmblood, and a full sibling to Ucalyptys. We love his energy and curious personality. Sequoia throws big foals, so this one will likely be a keeper due to it's size, guaranteed to be a bay.

(Lucy Peekaboo x Xihao AR) due May 23, 2025.
Boo is new to me, so I don't know much about her yet, but she has Shining Spark on her papers and that line is known for being super easy and amateur friendly. She is a bit taller and sportier than Calli so I expect an athletic foal. This one again will be an Azteca and will be bay!

We are excited!

28/07/2024

Little Orchard Equine plans to enter the Coaldale candy parade. We will be going with a medieval theme!

The parade is August 10. Please let me know asap if you are interested as I need to include approximate number of people in my application, more details will follow soon.

We are looking to fill the following roles:
We need 2 to 3 (or more) horse riders - dressed in their finest medieval garb. Riders need to be able to control a horse at a walk and the occasional trot, and have incredible situational awareness. Please contact us if you wish to bring your own horse to join us. 🐴

1 truck driver - will get to drive the Tacoma (gets A/C), can dress however they like, and will have to ensure they don't hit anything with the car 🤣

1 Co-pilot - get to sit shotgun and helps the driver with any concerns, can dress how they like 😎

Limitless spots for people on foot - dress in your most comfortable and pretty medieval clothes if you can, we can also provide LOE shirts, may have to scoop 1 or 2 horse p**ps, have the option to jump into the Tacoma truck box to take a break from walking if needed (may have to share it with scooped p**p, we will make an effort to contain to the p**p in a single garbage can), gets to pass out candy and interact with the crowd more, will be required to be a bit of a buffer zone between candy driven humans and the horses (not a really hard job but it does require you to pay some attention)

24/07/2024

We now have an outdoor arena with fences! Once this heatwave ends (if ever) we will try to have more classes outside!

22/07/2024

I don't post nearly enough to keep views up. What do we want to see more of? Training updates? Should I start a mini blog? Pictures of lesson horses? Let me know!

Some of the training horses doing some training!

20/07/2024

We all know my cut off for the lesson horses is 32 degrees.

Here is a more comprehensive chart that takes humidity into account when deciding to ride your own horse or not in the heat!

09/07/2024

It is hot!
Lessons are supposed to pick up again this week, but we need to keep the weather in mind. When the temperature is at or above 30°C risk of overheating increases, so lessons will be kept at a walk or unmounted. Once it hits 35°C it will be a cancellation and we can reschedule for a different day.

The lesson horses work hard for us, so we need to make sure they are taken care of!

06/07/2024

We are in need of some last minute help for tomorrow or Monday to help load hay. All help is appreciated and we can pick you up if you are in Lethbridge and need a ride.

The horses will be grateful!

05/07/2024

01/07/2024

Canada Day parade this year was very wet, but there was a great turnout! It seemed bigger than ever and there were way more horses entered than usual.

Nio did super, although he did not appreciate the rain, and is ready for the Calgary stampede right away!

If you were there and didn't spot us, we joined up with the 4-H group so we didn't have to ride alone!

17/06/2024

This is the last week of lessons for the school year.

Not to worry, for those interested in starting or continuing lessons, we will be restarting the week of July 8 and will not be limited to evenings. Message me if you are interested for yourself or your kids!

17/06/2024

Thank you to those that helped with fencing on Saturday. We did not finish as a storm rolled in, so I am looking for more help Thursday/Friday/ Maybe Saturday this week. Let me know if you can, and again I will trade labor for lessons!

07/06/2024

If anyone wants to earn some horse time, I need some volunteer labor on Saturday June 15 to get things fixed up around the farm. Let me know if you are available, and I will trade for lesson time over the summer!

04/06/2024

Training horses are arriving for the month! As lessons slow down, I spend more time teaching horses than humans!

If you've been following for a while you'll recognize this guy from last year. Always happy to have repeat clients, lets me pick up where we left off!

28/05/2024

Show season and trail season have started. Have a horse that is not quite ready, or that you don't have time to bring along yourself? Let me do it for you!

Building a foundation of balance and softness so your horse can be the best and most confident partner for you. I do a balance of arena work and trail/ditch work so your horse is exposed to it all. From success at first shows to participating in a first parade without batting an eye, I have brought horses along in all aspects. I specialize in building the amateur or family friendly horse.

More information can be found at my website Littleorchardequine.com

22/05/2024

Happy Wednesday!

We are enjoying the moisture, but that means we are stuck inside while the ground is too soggy outside.

Spring session if riding is almost through! Remember that there will be lessons through the summer and if there is enough interest I can open a few daytime time slots.

04/05/2024

May the be with you. May 4th

21/04/2024

Soon the weather will be nice enough for students to ride outdoors regularly! It's nice tl get out of the arena sometimes.

Now is a good time to announce that the regular lesson program will be continued through the summer months (July and August) for those who want to continue. For those wanting or needing a break, the week of June 17 will be the final week of lessons, and the following week will be a break for the lesson horses.

13/04/2024

My riders swap horses quite often, which makes for a more well rounded rider!

Monogamy is fabulous for human romantic relationships. I am quite a fan of it for myself.
But please, please don’t be monogamous with your horse!!!

You absolutely learn so much more by riding lots of different horses. Instructors that keep putting students on the same pony week after week are doing a major disservice, not only to the student, but also to their business. I’m in a few instructor groups, and I can’t believe how many instructors have problems with students getting so attached to one horse that they refused to ride. Any other ones, or worse seem to think they own the horse and get really upset if they see someone else on it. Please do not promote that type of culture!!!!

Riding is when you want to embrace some hippie free love! Lol. Get your instructor to hop on your horse. Play pony swap with fellow borders. Riders many horses as you can.

Of course, there are always exceptions… I have a student who wanted me to ride her horse regularly but her horse is just a one rider kind of guy and it was clear that me riding him twice a month was just going to stress him out. I know a few older women who have major injuries and probably shouldn’t be on a horse but it’s a calculated risk and they own one steady Eddie that they really trust. I will excuse them from random horse swapping.

But most of us should be sitting on other horses regularly. This is one of the reasons why I beg parents NOT to buy their kid a horse. taking 2-3 lessons a week might not sound cheaper and better, but I promise it’s way more bang for your buck and will turn your kid into a real rider.

My students that lease from me still take half of their lessons on a different pony.

Picture of me on Lisè’s horse.
Picture credit to Hartmedia Photography & Design

09/04/2024

We’re probably evenly divided when it comes to the notion of past lives. But wait. New science—Epigenetics—is meeting old beliefs when it comes to inherited memories that are locked within our very DNA.

What this means is that it is now proven that we can inherit, through our female line, fears that we, ourselves, have not personally experienced. From the traumas of war, violent death, upheaval or being orphaned, to the more positive love of a particular type of writing or music, we are learning that emotion and experience can be passed down by the mother to the unborn child!

Our family has seen this to be true, through the decades of breeding a particular line of horses.

From before the first world war to the present day, all have been notably extreme in nature, from being off-the-charts cowy, to being spookily distrustful of their people, as well as cinchy… despite the fact that we’ve known these horses since birth. We know how they have been handled. We know how they have been treated for such things as ulcers and dentistry. We know how they live in the pastures, during their off-the-job hours.

Still, they are all weirdly and remarkably ‘the same’, despite the fact that the other unrelated horses we know and love, who live in the same herds and environs, are entirely different.

We have learned, through lived experience, to beware the common practice of breeding the troubled mare. The one, whether through poor handling, or a ‘quirky’ and complex disposition—so, whether manmade or inborn personality traits—is unable to settle in as a working partner with mankind. And yet, we see this all the time.

“She’s horrible to deal with but she’s so well-bred, let’s try for a foal…”

According to Elizabeth Elkins’ 2018 article in ‘Dressage Today’, “Genetically, the mare is responsible for at least fifty percent of the foal. Some breeders argue by observation that the dam affects the offspring at a rate of sixty percent, or more. In the majority of cases, breeding experts will tell you the mare’s characteristics override the stallion’s. A rule of thumb in the breeding world is that you can breed a mediocre stallion to a great mare and still have a nice foal. But breed a great stallion to an undesirable mare? The results will be disastrous.”

Many breeders anecdotally report that up to one hundred percent of a foal’s tractability comes from its mother. This is one area where beef producers might be far ahead of horse people. A cow who is of a foul disposition finds herself dispassionately culled from the job of mothering. The only thing worse than a cow on the warpath, is an entire female line who tends towards the same.

So, a warning, borne by both new science and old memory. That pretty but ‘difficult’ mare is probably not going to mother our dream horse… no matter the might of the stallion we find for her! No matter whose fault it is that she is troubled, in the first place. No matter the perfection of her conformation. No matter the siren call of the names upon her papers.

It is the sound mare, in both mind AND body—the one who has lived largely positive experiences, the one who has consistently proven herself on the job, the one who continues to appreciate the partnership with her people—whom we might want to reproduce.

Thinking of breeding your mare? When in doubt, don’t.

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If this post resonates, please consider buying me a few 'coffees' through this link, with my utmost thanks:

www.buymeacoffee.com/horsewoman

07/04/2024

Welcome Finny! She will be joining the lesson program once I get a few rides on her this week.

05/04/2024

04/04/2024

Training spaces currently available!

Unstarted horses, green horses, stiff sore or rehab horses, all are welcome here.

Training $650/month
Board $350/month

Pictured here is Finn when he arrived.